


Curiosity Killed the Crup

by Drarrelie



Series: 52 Weeks of Drarry [22]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Partners, Community: hogwarts365, Curiosity, Drabble, Facebook: The Pen15 is Mightier, Ficlet, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, POV Draco Malfoy, POV First Person, Pre-Slash, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24568465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drarrelie/pseuds/Drarrelie
Summary: Curiosity is a dangerous thing, especially as it has a tendency to mess with your self-preservation — and your sanity.This work is part of a series of connected weekly drabbles written during 2020. It can be read as a stand-alone but does reference the happenings inAn Invitation.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: 52 Weeks of Drarry [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612318
Comments: 12
Kudos: 70





	Curiosity Killed the Crup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stardanced](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardanced/gifts).



> stardanced, this one's for you since I know you've been almost as curious about it as Draco has... Thank you for being the loyal and supportive reader every writer would love to have 💙
> 
> [@hogwarts365](https://hogwarts365.tumblr.com/) drabble challenge, weekly prompts #341:  
> 1\. Justice  
> 2\. ~~Jaunt~~  
>  3\. ~~Jaded~~
> 
> The Pen15 is Mightier weekly drabble prompt: Bird
> 
> Thank you for the beta, [adavison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adavison) 💙

There’s a fine line between curiosity and obsession, and you don’t always realise you’ve crossed it before it’s already too late to go back. 

Even without my E in Divination, I should’ve been able to predict where this was headed a long time ago. We’re talking about Potter, after all, and Salazar knows I’ve never managed to keep anything Potter-related on the safe side of that line.

After I caught that first glimpse of it, I did my best to ignore it, to forget about it, but the memory kept haunting me. The dreams were one thing — it’s not like anyone’s a master of their own unconscious — but the daytime musings, on the other hand… Always striking at the most inconvenient of moments; during meetings, stakeouts, interrogations, lunches, paperwork duty… Just knowing it was there, hiding under his shirt, was enough to drive me half insane. I wanted to know what it was. Needed to know.

Don’t forget that I work with the man on a daily basis; that we share an office; that our work includes a fair amount of physical activities, both in the field and in the Ministry’s gym, with subsequent time spent together in the locker rooms, changing and… showering.

Eventually, I realised my furtive glances and occasional absent-minded staring might be interpreted the wrong way. That Potter, if he ever noticed, might think I was checking him out. That’s when I finally asked him.

“My tattoo?” Oh, it’s just a bird.”

_ Just a bird _ .

His casual words weren’t nearly enough to give it justice. I know this now, because he added, “Wanna see?”

It’s magnificent. Scarlet wings stretched out over his chest, just above the nipples, spanning wide enough for the tips to reach beyond his armpits. Head just under the hollow between his collarbones, body covering the length of his breastbone and golden tailfeathers long enough to curve around his navel and disappear under the waistband of his trousers.

I don’t know why I ever thought my curiosity would be satisfied once I knew. Of course, it didn’t. Of course, it’s only grown stronger.

And now the sight of that Phoenix will haunt me until the day I die.

**Author's Note:**

> I love and cherish any and all feedback you’re willing to give me — kudos, comments and recommendations are my primary life sources.
> 
> For more interaction, please find me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/drarrelie)


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